Eight Patriots advance

The Patriots and Starfires walked away with just one champion combined. But both will have plenty of chances at future tournament success.

The host Jay County High School wrestling team got top-four finishes from eight wrestlers in Saturday's sectional, earning them a spot in the regional tournament The team finished fifth overall in the nine-team field with 140.5 points, three behind third-place Adams Central.

The top four wrestlers in each weight class earned a spot in Saturday's regional, which will also be contested at JCHS.

"We got eight guys through. I'm pretty excited," said James Myers, whose squad was led by runner-up efforts from Drake Meska (130) and Kyle Garringer (189). "We only had 12 kids today. We had to forfeit two weight classes. ...

"As much as we'd like to have those champions, at this time of year it's about advancing."

South Adams, led by 145-pound champion Josh Ehr, also earned eight regional berths in finishing as the runner-up to 20-time defending champion Bellmont. The Starfires totaled 186.5 points to finish well behind 14th-ranked Bellmont (284.5), which had seven champions earned regional spots in all 14 weight classes, and ahead of third-place Southern Wells (150.5 points, seven regional qualifiers).

"It didn't go as planned," said SAHS coach Eric Myers, whose team had hoped to make a run at upsetting Bellmont. "We kind of had a rough day.

"I thought we'd do a little bit better.

"I'm really proud of the guys that got out. Obviously Josh Ehr has to stand out. ... He was just a little over two minutes the entire day. He looked great."

Meska, a junior, came closest to picking up a sectional championship for the Patriots, who earned two titles and finished fourth a year ago. He battled Carlin Hormann of the champion Braves to a scoreless first period, and then took control of the match when he started from the down position in the second period.

He picked up a reversal midway with 1:04 left on the clock and took a 2-0 lead into the third. However, Hormann got a quick escape early in the third period and then got behind Meska for a takedown with 58 seconds left in the match.

Hormann rode out Meska the rest of the way for the 3-2 win and the sectional championship.

It was just the second loss of the season for Meska, who edged Gabe Sprunger of South Adams 3-2 in the semifinal round and is now 37-2.

"Drake, who lost in the finals, battled all day in a tough weight class," said James Myers. "His weight class was seven deep with guys who had 20-plus victories. That was a big one to get in the semis because you never know what happens in the wrestle backs."

Garringer had an even taller task in the finals after advancing with wins over Blackford's Taylor Carpenter with a pin in 4 minutes, 51 seconds and Kyle Short of Norwell 7-3. His championship match came against Bellmont's Travis Thatcher, who is ranked fifth in the state with a 31-0 record.

While Garringer trailed 8-3 after the opening period, the freshman also avoided the fate handed to Thatcher's previous two opponents, who lost by pin and technical fall respectively.

Garringer went the distance against the 2009 state qualifier, falling by a 19-5 major decision.

"I told him ... 'We've got to start battling or we're going to get ran over,' said Myers, recalling his conversation with Garringer during a break to fix the strap he wears to help control the effects of a shoulder injury. "He did. You could see him pick it up a little bit. He frustrated Thatcher. ... Not that Kyle's is at his level (yet), but he definitely hung in there and battled and got into his head a little bit."

Ehr, who is ranked eighth in the state, was dominant in earning the Starfires' lone title of the day. He pinned Blake Banter of Southern Wells in 54 seconds and Dallas Necessary from Union City in just 27 seconds on his way to the finals, and needed less than 10 seconds to score his first takedown in the championship match against Kyle King of Bluffton.

King managed to get a reversal to even the score, but Ehr quickly reclaimed control. He pushed his advantage to 6-2 before pinning King in 1:01 to push his season record to 37-0.

"He's unbelievably comfortable on the mat in all positions," said Eric Myers of the two-time state qualifier. "It's rare to find a kid that's that good in all positions. He's an excellent wrestler. He hasn't lost yet, so we're hoping to get a couple more titles here."

John Striker (125) and Nick Taylor (171) also reached title matches for South Adams. Striker fell 9-5 to Bobby Perry of Bluffton, and Taylor suffered a 6-2 loss to Bellmont's Anthony Stebing.

Nick Leonhard and Matt James each finished their days with pins to earn third-place finishes for Jay County. James (215) topped Union City's Matt Prewitt in 1:48, and Leonhard (145) finished off Andy Weaver of Bellmont in 3:48.

The Patriots and Starfires went head-to-head in three third-place matches, with SAHS winning them all.

T.J. Burnfield beat Kyle Davidson by a 19-6 major decision at 140 pounds, Todd Batt pinned Chase Louck in 2:14 at 119 pounds and Jim West pinned Kyler Blowers in 1:56 in the heavyweight division.

West, who entered the day 32-0 and ranked fourth in the state, suffered a semifinal upset to Blackford's Elijah Justice by pin in 22 seconds. He survived a scare from Adam's Central's Alex Reinhard in the consolation bracket, eking out a 3-2 overtime win to earn a regional berth before beating Blowers in the third-place match.

"Jim West gave us a scare on getting out of sectional, but he came out and got third," said Myers. "He'll be all right next week.

"We've had a poor semifinal round two weeks in a row, at ACAC and this week. ...

I'm hoping that they have better weeks next week. The first round is huge. ... One match and you're going to semi-state. Anything can happen from there."

Nathan Drumm (135) also turned in a fourth-place effort for JCHS. The Starfires got fourth-place finishes from L.J. Moser (112) and Isaac Werst (152).[[In-content Ad]]